


homecoming

by ThunderstormsandMemories



Series: 15 days of fatt 2020 [5]
Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: 15 Days of FatT, 15 Days of FatT 2020, F/F, Multi, Other, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23317168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThunderstormsandMemories/pseuds/ThunderstormsandMemories
Summary: in which Hella, Adaire, and their family return to the Last University for Benjamin and Blue J's wedding
Relationships: Adaire Ducarte/Hella Varal, Benjamin/Blue J (Friends at the Table), referenced adaire ducarte/hella varal/adelaide tristé
Series: 15 days of fatt 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667332
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> for the prompt "children" so I kinda talked about some familial relationships and got real emo abt that time Blue J called Hella "Aunt Hella" which I guess fits the prompt. also it's a few days late but you know how it is

Hella wasn’t surprised to receive a envelope with Hadrian’s handwriting on the outside, careful block letters that read _TO HELLA VARAL-DUCARTE-TRISTÉ_ , but she was surprised by how heavy it was, as if he’d used unusually thick paper, and she was even more surprised that when she cut open the envelope—using one of Adaire’s smaller knives that had been repurposed as a letter opener—it contained, in addition to Hadrian’s usual letter, a glossy card with the brightly embossed letters _YOU’RE INVITED_.

In slightly smaller print, the card went on to say that she and her family, including Adelaide, in whatever capacity she could manage, were cordially invited to the Last University in three month’s time to celebrate the marriage of Blue J and Benjamin S. Nurmacher. On the back of the card was a note, in small neat handwriting that Hella recognized as Benjamin’s: _Hi Aunt Hella, I know it’s been a while._ It had taken a while for them to reach that level of familiarity again, for Blue J to even speak to her, let alone call her “aunt,” and even longer for Benjamin. But the tone of the note was friendly and warm, and Blue J and Benjamin had stayed at their house a few times while they were traveling, sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with a few friends embarking on an adventure with them. Adaire walked in, arms full of radishes, a smudge of dirt on her nose, as Hella had just gotten to the postscript from Blue J ( _see you soon!_ with a little smiley face).

“What’s up with Hadrian these days?” Adaire said, leaning over Hella’s shoulder to get a closer look at the letter, which Hella set down so that she could wipe the dirt from her wife’s face with her thumb and kiss her on the cheek.

“He’s good, probably,” Hella said. “I don’t know, it’s not actually from him. It’s Benjamin and Blue J.”

“Going on another quest?” Adaire said. “Maybe they’ll go out past the Weaver King this time, the maps in that direction could use a little more detail.”

“Kind of,” Hella said. “They’re getting married.”

Adaire dropped her pile of radishes on the table, sending a spray of dirt across the fancy card paper, and said, “No shit, really? They’re so young.”

“They’re older than I was when I left home,” said Hella. “And it’s obvious that they’re right for each other. I mean, they’ve been inseparable most of the time I’ve known them.”

“Yeah,” said Adaire, “but we didn’t married until a while after that, and if I accept that Ben and Blue J are old enough to get married, I have to think about how old _our_ kids are getting.” Rix had gone with Benjamin and Blue J for a brief adventure last time they’d stopped by, and Roe frequently went with Adaire whenever she went a little further afield in search of some strange wild plant they’d run out of. They were still kids, still growing, but Hella was constantly surprised by how tall they’d grown, how she could no longer hide presents for them or snacks she was saving for herself on the higher shelves and know that no one else could reach.

“True,” Hella said, “but I doubt either of them are getting married any time soon. Where are they anyway?”

“Taking Barbello for a walk,” Adaire said. “Or maybe Barbello’s taking them. You know how it is.”

“I do know,” Hella said. “They’ll be gone for hours, and they’ll show up just in time for dinner, covered in pollen and their pockets full of things they definitely should not have taken.”

“They’re such good kids,” said Adaire proudly, whose pockets were just as often full of things she should not have taken, though in her case it was usually some trinket she’d stolen years ago, stuffed in her pocket, and forgotten about until Hella wrapped her arms around her and put her hands in Adaire’s pockets for warmth, and Rix and Roe were much more likely to pick up rocks and sticks and insects and one time, memorably, a very grumpy baby quail.

“I think it’ll be cool for them, to see the university again,” Hella said.

“Yeah,” said Adaire, sitting on Hella’s lap and taking her hands. “What about you? How do you feel about going back?”

“I don’t know,” Hella said, a complicated wave of emotion sweeping through her at the thought of returning to a place that held so many messy memories for her, “but I want to go.”

“Of course,” Adaire said, resting her forehead against Hella’s. “We’ll all go. It’ll be great.”

“Obviously,” said Hella, softly, not needing to speak louder with her lips close enough to kiss. “You’ll be with me.”

\---

Hella and her family were late, and Benjamin was nervous. Blue J laid a comforting hand on their fiancé’s shoulder, to prevent him from pacing a hole in the carpet that Red Jack and their two youngest siblings had spent the past week installing, as part of their wedding present.

“They’ll be here on time,” Blue J said. “They said they would, and it’s not a dangerous journey, especially not for people like them.” It was honestly hard to imagine any journey being truly dangerous to Hella and Adaire, wives of a death goddess, with each with a list of achievements long enough to be the subject of several songs that had been passed around the Rhizome until even Blue J had trouble distinguishing fact from legend.

“I know,” Benjamin said, reaching up to rest his hand on top of Blue J’s, but his eyes never left the entrance to the university on the branch that Hella and Adaire and their kids would be taking.

“They probably just got sidetracked, you know how Rix and Roe are.” That earned them a fond smile from Benjamin, who knew perfectly well how distractible Rix and Roe were, how likely they were to run off after anything that caught their attention. Their last trip, the one Rix had joined them on, had taken twice as long as they’d expected because Rix absolutely _had_ to climb up a different branch entirely, just because it “looked cool.” Which Blue J had no room to criticize, since they could be nearly as bad sometimes. They were the Ranger, part of their job was knowing the Rhizome, and the best and also most fun way of doing that was getting lost in it as often as possible. They weren’t sure Throndir would agree with that, but they were a different kind of Ranger than Throndir had been. It was a different world now, after all.

It was just before the fifth sunset when Blue J saw a familiar group of silhouettes at the edge of the university, and they nudged Benjamin. They’d both gotten too antsy to stay inside, instead sitting on top of the ruins of what had once been one of the university’s walls, and now was just a pile of stone held together by vines that grew directly out of the branch on which the university sat. “I see them,” he said. “Let’s go greet them.” And then, looking up at Blue J with a mischievous smile, “Race you?”

“You’re on,” Blue J said, letting go of Benjamin’s hand and considering the relative safety and efficiency of climbing down the stone or just sliding down a vine. “Loser makes dinner tonight?”

“As if Rosana isn’t going to cook for everyone anyway,” said Benjamin.

“Does that mean you’re going to let me win?”

“You wish.”

In the end, they both skidded to a halt in front of Hella and Adaire and Rix and Roe at the same time, or at least close enough that they couldn’t judge who actually won, with Barbello jumping around them and barking excitedly. Blue J bent down to scratch behind Barbello’s ears, letting themself be slobbered on just a little bit before straightening up and being swept into a big group hug that lasted until Roe, voice muffled, said, “Can we wrap this up? I’m hungry.” And they all broke apart, laughing, and Blue J and Benjamin led everyone else to Hadrian and Rosana’s house for dinner, where the rest of their family was waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> [tearing up] a family can be an entire adventuring party, their various friends and partners, and all of the children and dogs they adopted along the way
> 
> come say hi @s_artemisios on twitter


End file.
